Tamerlan Tsarnaev Suspected in Triple Murder

An Orlando, Fla., man whom U.S. law enforcement questioned as an associate of the Boston bombing suspects was shot and killed after he tried to attack a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, according to a U.S. law enforcement official. evan Perez joins Lunch Break. Photo: Zuma Press.

ORLANDO, Fla.—One of the brothers accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombing is also now believed to have committed a grisly triple murder in 2011, U.S. law-enforcement officials said after a man believed to be his accomplice was gunned down here Wednesday by a federal agent who was questioning him.

Ibragim Todashev was shot dead at an Orlando apartment after he lunged at and cut a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, who with two Massachusetts state troopers had been questioning him about the murders in Waltham, Mass., two law-enforcement officials said, citing preliminary reports from the scene. The agent was taken to the hospital with injuries that weren't life-threatening. The FBI said it was reviewing the incident.

During questioning, the 27-year-old Mr. Todashev made a series of incriminating statements about the murders, the officials said. They said that Mr. Todashev's remarks weren't a full confession but that he implicated himself and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the bombing suspect who died after a shootout with police.

ENLARGE

The medical examiner arrives at an apartment in Orlando, Fla., where Ibragim Todashev was shot to death Wednesday.
Zuma Press

Representatives for the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, which is overseeing the homicide investigation, and the Massachusetts State Police declined to comment. The local probe is continuing, and investigators haven't determined whether other suspects were involved, the U.S. officials said.

The trail looked to have gone cold in the killings of Brendan Mess, 25, Erik Weissman, 31, and Raphael Teken, 37, whose throats were slashed on Sept. 11, 2011, in a Waltham apartment. Their bodies were found a day later, covered in marijuana and cash. No arrests were made, but the probe gained steam in recent weeks.

Mr. Tsarnaev, 26, and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, are accused of committing the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and injured more than 260. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, has been charged but hasn't entered a plea.

What's News

Mr. Todashev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev belonged to a small circle: ethnic Chechens on the Boston-area fighting circuit, the Tsarnaevs' father, Anzor Tsarnaev, said Wednesday from his home in the Russian region of Dagestan. They trained at the same gym, and the pair met "a few times" in recent years at boxing events, Anzor Tsarnaev said. But he said he believed the two didn't socialize much after Mr. Todashev moved to Florida a few years ago.

Mr. Tsarnaev, who spoke before officials disclosed his son was suspected of involvement in the 2011 murders, has maintained his sons didn't carry out the Boston bombing and were framed by federal agents. Mr. Todashev, he said, was also innocent of wrongdoing.

"There is an open season on Chechens. They are hunting Chechens now," he said.

Mr. Mess, one of the Waltham victims, was also involved in amateur fighting and sometimes sparred with Tamerlan, a friend of both men told The Wall Street Journal last month. The friend said he never saw Tamerlan again after the 2011 murders.

The FBI initially questioned Mr. Todashev weeks ago because he was a friend of Tamerlan's, the U.S. official said. He had been cooperative and canceled a planned trip to Russia, in part to continue voluntary interviews with the FBI, according to the official.

Mr. Todashev wasn't accused of being involved in the bombing, the official said. His FacebookFB-1.26% page said he was married in August 2011; his wife couldn't be reached for comment.

He competed in mixed martial arts—which draws on a range of combat disciplines, including jujitsu, wrestling, boxing and kickboxing—, sometimes fighting under the alias Ibrahim Tody, said Chris Palmquist, chief operating officer of Mixed Martial Arts LLC, which maintains the official registry of MMA fighters for the Association of Boxing Commissions. Mr. Todashev became part of the registry in Massachusetts in 2009, he said.

A friend, Umar Taramov, said he and his younger brother accompanied Mr. Todashev to meet investigators Tuesday but left because the meeting was lasting hours. He said his younger brother returned and was shocked to find Mr. Todashev had been shot.

"The Ibragim I know is a very normal guy," said Mr. Taramov. "This isn't someone who would have done something crazy."

Though Mr. Todashev recently got his green card, he had suffered a few setbacks. In addition to the injury, he was arrested May 4 after a parking-lot altercation turned violent, Mr. Taramov said.

Mr. Taramov said he wanted an explanation of what exactly transpired between investigators and Mr. Todashev. "They can say anything. The person is dead. Now they can blame him for anything," Mr. Taramov said.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.